Prayer
by Tempest Bound
Summary: Fuse knows that the sickly pallor of Yatsu is nothing like his common bouts of illness. It is stronger. It is to stay. And it will end his life. Rated T for blood and dark themes.


**.:Prayer:.**

Fuse knows that the sickly pallor of Yatsu is nothing like his common bouts of illness. It is stronger. It is to stay. And it will end his life.

He lays now in front of her, as she kneels at his bedside, in a fitful sleep. His eyes roam beneath his eyelids in a feverish dream, and Fuse can only pray it is a dream, not a nightmare. But it will be nothing like her dreams or perhaps even those of the Canine Warriors, for he has never seen the world and cannot imagine it.

She cannot do anything but wipe his sweating face with a cool rag, because even the doctor has given up hope. Yatsu's lungs are failing, just like everything else will, and she can't do anything about it.

A sob catches in Fuse's throat, and she refuses it to be freed. One will lead to the next, and they will culminate into something dangerous, some wild beast that cannot be controlled, and she knows that it will only make matters worse. There's no reason to upset Yatsu, if indeed he were to wake and find her sobbing.

Yatsu's dreams will surely sour if she were to cry, like his mood does when she is downtrodden. He knows how to read hearts, and Fuse isn't about to test whether this ability continues working in sleep.

The lurking forms of the Canine Warriors slip about in shadow, unnerved by their master's sickness and their mistress' grief. Fuse can always depend on them, their animal companionship, but she never felt so alone. A high-pitched whine escapes her throat, followed by a choked sob. Her hands fly to her mouth, ashamed at its selfishness.

Sob after sob wrack her body, bending her over her knees, desperate knuckles jammed against her quivering lips in hopes to _keep quiet._ But it doesn't work and Fuse soon finds herself with her forehead pressed to the cool mats and herself lying next to her husband, broken alongside him.

A gentle hand finds her cheek. She jolts upright, guiltily wiping tears from her face, and ducks her head behind her kimono's sleeve.

There's a cough, wet with sickness. Then, a voice too old for its owner. "Fuse..."

She steadies her voice, hopes it doesn't crack. "Yes, Yatsu?"

"Fuse, look at me."

She shakes her head stubbornly, childishly.

"Please, Fuse-_hime_."

And she does, finally, slowly, because he called her _princess_, which is what she is, or rather, what she _was_, and she can't stand hearing the pain in his voice. "Yatsu...forgive me for waking you."

"No need. I wanted to wake, myself."

And Fuse can't help but smile slightly, because he's smiling too, and it's hard to not like him. "Really? To do what? You need rest."

Fuse nearly chokes as Yatsu struggles to sit up, chest beginning to heave. She tries to make him lie back down, protesting, but he doesn't listen and struggles on. "What are you—"

"Help me," is his strangled reply, tense with pain. So she does and doesn't know what to do.

Minutes pass, tight with fear and heartbreaks; finally, Yatsu is sitting up, head between his knees, chest heaving, breath wet and rasping.

The Canine Warriors press closer, though they don't pierce the perimeter of light, hackles raised and ears pricked for danger. Scarred legs scramble about, and battered pelts brush against each other for comfort. Whimpers and growls whisper against the walls.

"What possessed you to even _try_—"

"Please," Yatsu gasps, hacking when he breathes in too deeply. "Help me up."

Fuse's eyes boggle. "What in Great Amaterasu's name"

"No time for questions," he says. "Please."

Fuse can't deny those pleading, blind eyes, the sightless gaze of her dying husband. So she complies, helping him stand. He is so unsteady upon his feet, he falls onto her, though she is nearly a foot shorter than he. His frame has always been light, but today it is frail and failing, ravaged by coughing fits and sickness.

Yatsu tries standing himself, muttering, "I'll get you sick, Fuse, let me _go_," but can't and stumbles. Fuse catches him around his waist, shocked at his lightness.

_Almost like a ghost, _she thinks, eyes wide in shock and worry.

"Why?" The word come out like blasphemy; quick and without much thought, evil and forbidden and selfish, and she wishes she could take it back, before anyone notices.

Yatsu's body shivers with a cough. "I need to go to the Gale Shrine."

Fuse knows she won't be able to stop this, his mission. For whatever reason, he wants to enter the Shrine, and if not with her help, Fuse knows he'll find a way to get there. Something desperate cushions his words, and Fuse can't refuse the last wish of a dying man.

"Yes, yes, okay. But why?" Her grip slips and she scrabbles at his clothing, panicking. Yatsu simply hugs her tighter.

He doesn't say anything, so Fuse begins an awkward stumbling dance to help him to the door. His answering surprises her. "Prayer. I need to pray."

"About what?" she presses, refusing to scream that this is insanity, why endanger yourself for prayer? Why not pray here?

This time he does not answer at all.

His slight frame becomes lighter still, and Fuse chokes. But then Yatsu laughs slightly, mirth ending in coughs. Eight furry bodies crowd around, providing light by their Satomi Orbs and support with their battle-trained muscles.

Fuse sniffs and gives a cracking laugh. "Thank you."

The path to the Shrine is not steep, nor is it very long. But by the time the group reaches the _torii_ gate designating holy ground, all are panting.

Yatsu and Fuse, along with the Canine Warriors, pause by the walls of the Shrine. The stone feels cool against Fuse's burning palms, and she breathes in the damp smell of the cave. Down a small path sits a platform, then a bridge, and then a mighty stone door carved with eight holes in a circle.

Yatsu is the first to speak. "Canine Warriors, please stay here."

The Canine Warriors whine in confusion, but all comply, lying down with panting tongues. They all watch as Fuse and Yatsu disappear down the path.

When they stop before the stone door, Yatsu releases Fuse and sinks to his knees, then, pressing palms to the ground in front of him, rests his forehead on the earth. Fuse watches, worried he might not be able to rise from kneeling, but before she can open her mouth, Yatsu's muffled voice pierces the stifling silence.

"Fuse, I need you to leave."

"But why?" she asks, tears welling up, because what if she were to return to find no pulse, no breath, him cold as the stone he prays upon?

"I need to pray by myself. For a few minutes, Fuse-_hime_."

And of course she can't deny this.

She returns to the path but doesn't pass through the _torii_ gate; instead, she presses her back to the wall, hiding her deceit behind stone walls. The cavern is silent for a few moments, as if Yatsu is making sure she had left.

Fuse holds her breath.

Then, "Mother Amaterasu, please, after I've joined the spirit world, watch over my beloved Fuse."

He stops, chokes. "Please, oh, Dear Amaterasu, _please_. I pray that—"

There's silence. Fuse's heart stops. She begins to turn, to start down the path, when a heavy weight lands on her back, tackling her down, a growling muzzle above her head. When she looks, it is Tei, but his eyes are on the cave. Fuse tries to look, to _see_, but the Canine Warrior shoves her towards the entrance.

The cave is filled with growls and snarling from the Canine Warriors, but it does not drown out the scream cut off by sickening gurgling.

She finds she is screaming, too, crying, struggling against Tei, who keeps her pressed against the post of the _torii _gate. There is more snarling, a mighty bellow, the sounds and smells of crackling flames, and then another scream, something animal. But what animal could make such an unholy noise?

A resounding, shuddering impact empties Fuse's heart. Stone grinds against stone, then silence. Then, after a few moments, whimpers, whines, and a dragging noise.

Quivering forms appear at the cave's mouth, one prone, seven others snuffling and whimpering. The prone shape comes to a rolling halt, and a dark puddle soon stains the grass beneath it.

Fuse collapses now, released by Tei, body limp and keening wails ragged with grief. She manages to make her way to her husband's body, where he lies on his back, ugly wound ripped open in his chest. Dark blood soaks his shirt, and Fuse presses her forehead to his. "No, no, please, dear Amaterasu, no no no no!"

His cheeks are wet with tears he shed in his prayers, and now hers as she kisses his face, praying, too, and the Canine Warriors mourn with her. Empty eyes stare up at the wavering moon, sightless in life and, now, in death.

Nine howls of grief echo the hillsides of Kusa Village tonight, pouring from the Shrine of Kazegami.

* * *

**Tempest Bound: A sad, tragic fic for a sad, tragic (and still sweet) couple. Not enough love for these two!**


End file.
